French Frdays with Dorie

Friday, January 28, 2011

FFwD: Chicken B'stilla

The entire time I was making this recipe I was in love with it. It smelled divine, it looked so good. My sauce was smooth and creamy. I was so eager to taste this, I was sure I was going to make a bad pun about the name - Be stilla my heart - was all I kept thinking. All through my preparation I kept thinking, my God, this smells intoxicating, I can't wait to eat it. And then, I tried it. And, you know what? It wasn't intoxicating anymore. In fact, it was rather a taste let down.﻿

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Chicken B'stilla

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The dish turned out beautifully. I mean look at it. Perfect shape, fantastic color. And you know? I found it disappointing. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't there. It had everything going for it during preparation. The only thing that did not track as I expected was the sauce reduction. That took well over thirty minutes. Maybe I did not have the heat up high enough, it was boiling briskly but the reduction was quite slow to take place. Eventually, though, it was reduced sufficiently. I added the eggs and honey, fearful that I would end up with scrambled eggs - but no - my whisking was sufficient to avoid that horror. But still, when I tasted my slice, I wasn't thrilled. It did not have quite the punch I was expecting. It packs a nice presentation, though, so I will keep it in mind for the future. I'm eager to share it with someone else to see how they feel about it. I don't have high hopes for the longevity of the lovely pastry, but perhaps the filling will evolve (for me) and I will once again be having heart palpitations over this dish.